Accessories

infuriating
You have to be a genius to sync this piece of junk. I hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buyer Beware - Dead On Arrival - go through Apple next time
I bought this to send to my sister in Germany, and when it got to her (via our Mum, who was traveling to visit) it was completely dead! Luckily she's able to exchange it at an Apple Store in Berlin, but after this experience I will be leery of buying another Apple product through Amazon.

This happened once before to me when I bought an AirPort card for my work iBook, the hardware I got was completely non-functioning.

I've bought cannon electronics here no problem, but I will not be buying Apple here again!

Items Missing
Items shipped without dock adapter/connector, polishing cloth and stand. Not Happy!!!Apple iPod touch 8 GB with Software Upgrade

Great device, ok sound quality, poor battery life
It's a really good device. It has a very smooth and sensitive touch screen when compared to knockoffs. The interface is very sleek, it's fast. The new 2.0 firmware is great, as it works with all the applications. The device itself is very thin and just the right size. The calendar, contact list, photos, video playback and weather over WiFi make this a great organizer for me.

The sound quality is mediocre at best. I had an iPod Classic 160GB before this and it's around that level. I'm listening to it with UE triple.fi 10's, so I can hear the tinny/muddiness of the sound pretty well. This is most noticeable when you listen to the same song on your PC and then again on the touch. It's a small device and looks like one of things sacrificed is the sound quality because of a smaller, more power-efficient DAC.

The largest drawback to the iPod touch is the battery life. I can't really go more than a day of normal use without charging it. Looks like as these things get smaller and smaller, you win some and you lose some.

A very basic PDA and just an OK mp3 player
I wanted to upgrade my old Samsung Yepp YP-35H (128 MB) MP3 player and may be also get something that would replace my Sony Clie SJ20 PDA. iPod Touch seemed to be a natural choice, especially as I switched to a Macbook Pro as my main machine lately.

What I realized after first few days of excitement with its beautiful screen, ease of navigation and other nice features was that as I was almost always around my laptop (either at home or in the office), I had no use for most of it's key features, while it missed those things that I would really appreciate.

What I don't find useful:

Video, photos, and the internet. Don't take me wrong, these things are very nice for a device of its size - the screen is brilliant and zooming in and out is awesome. No problem with WiFi connection either. But lets be serious - its still a 3.5 inch screen and you have to use earplugs. Why would I watch videos (or photos) on this thing if I can use my MacBook Pro with 15 inch screen laptop and Bose speakers?

What I find not very useful

As an mp3 player it's ok, but not great. Other people complained about lack of external buttons for controls and I agree with that. Adjusting sound volume, returning to a certain point on an audio book is rather awkward indeed.

What I find useful

It's calendar and contacts tools. Its keyboard is rather nice. The quality of it's screen makes working with it a real pleasure. Unfortunately, there is no much you can do with this thing besides entertainment.

What I miss

A text editor, a simple spreadsheet program, an ebook reader, and a pdf viewer. And for God sake - copy/paste and search functions!!!

Conclusion:

I feel that iPod touch has a great potential, but it is not realized yet. All its beautiful qualities are not of much use as it has just very basic PDA functionality. As an mp3 player it's just OK because in fact an mp3 player should not be something you look at too much, and iPod touch requires you to look at it to operate.

Usefulness of calendar and contacts tools don't justify its price for me - I got a 16 GB version (and that was an overkill as I found out) paying over $400. This is just too much for a thing that only "entertains" you and does not help you much with your productivity.

Now I am again looking for something that will successfully combine an mp3 player and a PDA, or I might buy a refurbished 8GB version of iPod Touch - I guess I can justify spending $200 for such thing, but surely not $400.

P.S. I am aware of jailbreaking, but after paying that much money I don't really want to mess with anything - all I need should be right there.